U.S. Received $489.9m From GM Shares Sold In February

Mar 12, 2013 09:43 AM EDT

The United States Treasury continued selling its remaining stake in General Motors, more than tripling the amount of GM stock sold back last month, with the latest reports indicating the government received $489.9 million for shares sold in February, Bloomberg News reported.

Advertisement

The number of GM shares sold and the average price per share will be disclosed when each pre-arranged trading plan is complete, the report stated. The Detroit Free Press speculated that because GM stock traded between $26 - $28 dollars per share in February the government sold about $18 million shares.

The sale was disclosed Monday in a monthly report to Congress on the status of the Troubled Asset Relief Program. In January shares of GM sold by the Treasury were worth $156.4 million.

The government has staggered the sale its remaining stake in GM to avoid any major fluctuations in the market.

The Treasury Department announced in December it would sell 200 million shares of GM back to the company for $5.5 billion, then sell an additional 300 million shares by early 2014, the New York Times reported.

About $50 billion went to GM as a result of the TARP bailouts, prompting some to label the company "Government Motors."

General Motors' executive pay will continue to be restricted until the government sells its final share of GM stock, the Free Press reported.

It is unclear how much of the company is technically owned by taxpayers, but the Free Press speculates it's close to $270 million, which would mean the Treasury would have to sell its remaining shares at about $72 each to break even on the $50 billion bailout.